US10244613B2 - System and method for electrodeless plasma ignition in laser-sustained plasma light source - Google Patents

System and method for electrodeless plasma ignition in laser-sustained plasma light source Download PDF

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US10244613B2
US10244613B2 US15/280,073 US201615280073A US10244613B2 US 10244613 B2 US10244613 B2 US 10244613B2 US 201615280073 A US201615280073 A US 201615280073A US 10244613 B2 US10244613 B2 US 10244613B2
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Prior art keywords
plasma
lasers
output
optical fiber
lamp
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US20170150590A1 (en
Inventor
Anant Chimmalgi
Rudolf Brunner
Anatoly Shchemelinin
Ilya Bezel
Erik Kim
Rajeev Patil
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KLA Corp
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KLA Tencor Corp
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Priority to US15/280,073 priority Critical patent/US10244613B2/en
Application filed by KLA Tencor Corp filed Critical KLA Tencor Corp
Priority to CN201680057767.5A priority patent/CN108140538B/zh
Priority to DE112016004526.3T priority patent/DE112016004526T5/de
Priority to PCT/US2016/054733 priority patent/WO2017062274A1/en
Priority to JP2018517290A priority patent/JP7023223B2/ja
Priority to TW105132022A priority patent/TWI703611B/zh
Assigned to KLA-TENCOR CORPORATION reassignment KLA-TENCOR CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: PATIL, RAJEEV, KIM, Erik, BRUNNER, RUDOLF, SHCHEMELININ, ANATOLY, BEZEL, ILYA, CHIMMALGI, Anant
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05G—X-RAY TECHNIQUE
    • H05G2/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for producing X-rays, not involving X-ray tubes, e.g. involving generation of a plasma
    • H05G2/001—X-ray radiation generated from plasma
    • H05G2/008—X-ray radiation generated from plasma involving a beam of energy, e.g. laser or electron beam in the process of exciting the plasma
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
    • G02B6/4201—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
    • G02B6/4204—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details the coupling comprising intermediate optical elements, e.g. lenses, holograms
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/02—Details
    • H01J61/025—Associated optical elements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
    • H01J61/02—Details
    • H01J61/54—Igniting arrangements, e.g. promoting ionisation for starting
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J65/00—Lamps without any electrode inside the vessel; Lamps with at least one main electrode outside the vessel
    • H01J65/04—Lamps in which a gas filling is excited to luminesce by an external electromagnetic field or by external corpuscular radiation, e.g. for indicating plasma display panels
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J65/00—Lamps without any electrode inside the vessel; Lamps with at least one main electrode outside the vessel
    • H01J65/04—Lamps in which a gas filling is excited to luminesce by an external electromagnetic field or by external corpuscular radiation, e.g. for indicating plasma display panels
    • H01J65/042—Lamps in which a gas filling is excited to luminesce by an external electromagnetic field or by external corpuscular radiation, e.g. for indicating plasma display panels by an external electromagnetic field
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05G—X-RAY TECHNIQUE
    • H05G2/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for producing X-rays, not involving X-ray tubes, e.g. involving generation of a plasma
    • H05G2/001—X-ray radiation generated from plasma
    • H05G2/003—X-ray radiation generated from plasma being produced from a liquid or gas

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to plasma-based light sources, and, more particularly, to an electrodeless plasma-based light source.
  • LSP Laser-sustained plasma
  • Laser-sustained light sources are capable of producing high-power broadband light.
  • Laser-sustained light sources operate by focusing laser radiation into a gas volume in order to excite the gas, such as argon or xenon, into a plasma state, which is capable of emitting light. This effect is typically referred to as “pumping” the plasma.
  • plasma lamps require electrodes to ignite the plasma, which is then sustained solely by laser energy.
  • the need for electrodes also necessitates complicated glass metal sealing technologies and a complex bulb form factor that makes it prone to stress concentration, failure at the metal glass seal and an overall reduction of burst pressure/strength of the lamp.
  • the electrodes themselves are also prone to degradation/sputtering, which reduces the glass transmission due to darkening. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that cures the shortcomings of previous approaches such as those of the identified above.
  • the illumination source includes one or more ignition lasers configured to ignite a plasma within a gas contained within a plasma lamp.
  • the illumination source includes one or more sustaining lasers configured to sustain the plasma.
  • the illumination source includes a delivery optical fiber.
  • the illumination source includes one or more optical elements configured to selectively optically couple an output of the one or more ignition lasers and an output of the one or more sustaining lasers to the delivery optical fiber.
  • the illumination source is integrated within a broadband laser-sustained plasma (LSP) source, whereby one or more lamp optics direct an output from the delivery optical fiber to the volume of gas within the plasma lamp to ignite and sustain the plasma within the volume of gas in the plasma lamp.
  • LSP broadband laser-sustained plasma
  • the illumination source includes one or more ignition lasers configured to ignite a plasma within a gas contained within a plasma lamp.
  • the illumination source includes one or more sustaining lasers configured to sustain the plasma.
  • the illumination source includes a delivery optical fiber, wherein an output of the one or more sustaining lasers is coupled to an input of the delivery fiber.
  • the illumination source includes a process optical fiber.
  • the illumination source includes a fiber coupler optically coupled to an output of the delivery optical fiber and an input of the process optical fiber.
  • the fiber coupler includes one or more optical elements configured to selectively optically couple an output of the one or more ignition lasers and an output of the one or more sustaining lasers to an input of the process optical fiber.
  • the illumination source is integrated within a broadband laser-sustained plasma (LSP) source, whereby one or more lamp optics direct an output from the process optical fiber to the volume of gas within the plasma lamp to ignite and sustain the plasma within the volume of gas in the plasma lamp.
  • LSP broadband laser-sustained plasma
  • FIG. 1A illustrates a simplified schematic view of a system for forming a light-sustained plasma, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIGS. 1B-1C illustrate simplified schematic views of an illumination source including a sustaining laser and an internal ignition laser, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 1D illustrates a simplified schematic view of an illumination source including a sustaining laser and an external ignition laser, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 1E illustrates a simplified schematic view of an illumination source equipped with multiple dichroic mirrors, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 1F illustrates a simplified schematic view of a system for forming a light-sustained plasma with an external ignition laser positioned along a direction different from the sustaining laser, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 2A illustrates a simplified schematic view of a plasma lamp having a cylindrical plasma bulb, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 2B illustrates a simplified schematic view of a plasma lamp having a spherical plasma bulb, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 2C illustrates a simplified schematic view of a plasma lamp having a cardioid plasma bulb, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to an electrodeless plasma lamp for use in a LSP broadband source. Additional embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to simplified plasma lamp geometries and configurations. Such embodiments improve plasma lamp reliability, lifetime (by preventing problems caused by electrode degradation), and scalability. Additional embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to plasma ignition schemes involving one or more ignition lasers coupled in-line with one or more sustaining lasers. In these embodiments, the one or more ignition lasers may ignite a plasma within a given plasma lamp, and, then, following plasma ignition, the one or more sustaining lasers may sustain the plasma.
  • FIG. 1A illustrates a system 100 for forming a light-sustained plasma (LSP), in accordance with embodiment of the present invention.
  • the system 100 may serve as a broadband radiation source for any number of applications, such as, but not limited to, an inspection tool or a metrology tool.
  • the generation of a light-sustained plasma is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,435,982, issued on Oct. 14, 2008, which is incorporated by reference herein in the entirety.
  • the generation of plasma is also generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,786,455, issued on Aug. 31, 2010, which is incorporated by reference herein in the entirety.
  • the generation of plasma is also generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,989,786, issued on Aug. 2, 2011, which is incorporated by reference herein in the entirety.
  • the generation of plasma is also generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,182,127, issued on May 22, 2012, which is incorporated by reference herein in the entirety.
  • the generation of plasma is also generally described in U.S. Pat. No.
  • Transverse pumping of a light-sustained plasma is generally described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0282288, filed on Mar. 31, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein in the entirety.
  • the various embodiments of the present disclosure should be interpreted to extend to any plasma-based light source known in the art.
  • An optical system used in the context of plasma generation is described generally in U.S. Pat. No. 7,705,331, issued on Apr. 27, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in the entirety.
  • the system 100 includes a plasma lamp 110 .
  • the system 100 includes an illumination source 102 configured to ignite and/or sustain a plasma 111 within the plasma lamp 110 .
  • the illumination source 102 may emit light of any selected wavelength, or wavelength range, such as, but not limited to, infrared radiation, visible and/or UV radiation.
  • the illumination source 102 includes one or more sustaining lasers 120 and one or more ignition lasers 130 .
  • the one or more ignition lasers 130 may ignite plasma 111 within the plasma lamp 110 .
  • the one or more sustaining lasers 120 serve to sustain the plasma 111 within the plasma lamp 110 .
  • the system 100 includes one or more optical fibers (e.g., delivery fiber and/or process fiber) for delivering illumination (e.g., ignition illumination and/or sustaining illumination) from the illumination source 102 to the illumination path 101 of the system 100 .
  • illumination e.g., ignition illumination and/or sustaining illumination
  • the system includes one or more lamp optics.
  • the one or more lamp optics may include, but are not limited to, a collector element 108 (e.g., ellipsoidal mirror, parabolic mirror or spherical mirror) for directing and/or focusing illumination 105 from the illumination source 102 (via the optical fiber 104 ) into the volume of gas 109 contained within the plasma lamp 110 to ignite and/or sustain the plasma 111 .
  • the collector element 108 may also collect broadband radiation 114 emitted by the generated plasma 111 and direct the broadband radiation 114 to one or more additional optical elements 116 .
  • the one or more lamp optics may include a set of illumination optics for directing and/or focusing illumination 105 from the illumination source 102 (via optical fiber 104 ) into the volume of gas contained within the plasma lamp 110 to ignite and/or sustain the plasma 111 .
  • the set of illumination optics may include a set of reflector elements (e.g., mirrors) configured to direct an output from the process optical fiber 104 to the volume of gas within the plasma lamp 110 to ignite and/or sustain the plasma 111 .
  • the one or more lamp optics may include, but are not limited to, a set of collection elements (e.g., mirrors) for collecting broadband radiation 114 emitted by the plasma 111 and directing the broadband radiation 114 to one or more additional optical elements 116 .
  • a set of collection elements e.g., mirrors
  • the use of separate illumination and collection optics in a plasma source is described generally in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/187,590, filed on Jun. 20, 2016, which is incorporated herein.
  • the optical configuration used to deliver sustaining illumination from the one or more sustaining lasers 120 and ignition illumination from the one or more ignition lasers 130 of the laser source 102 to the plasma 111 may include any optical configuration capable of sequentially or simultaneously delivering sustaining and ignition illumination to the plasma 111 (or gas).
  • the optical configuration used to couple illumination from the one or more sustaining laser 120 and the one or more ignition lasers to the optical fiber 104 may include reflective and/or transmissive optics 103 .
  • the optical configuration may include one or more blocking mirrors, one or more adjustable/flip mirrors, one or more dichroic mirrors, one or more polarizing combiners and the like.
  • FIGS. 1B-1C illustrate an illumination source 102 equipped with one or more sustaining laser sources and one or more ignition light laser sources, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the illumination source 102 includes one or more sustaining lasers 120 a , 120 b and one or more ignition lasers 130 .
  • the one or more sustaining lasers 120 a , 120 b include one or more continuous wave (CW) lasers.
  • the one or more sustaining lasers 120 a , 120 b of laser source 102 may include, but are not limited to, one or more diode lasers (e.g., diode stacks).
  • the one or more ignition lasers 130 of laser source 102 include one or more pulsed lasers.
  • the one or more ignition lasers 130 of laser source 102 may include, but are not limited to, one or more Q-switched lasers.
  • the one or more ignition lasers 130 of laser source 102 may include, but are not limited to, one or more Nd-YAG lasers.
  • the one or more ignition lasers 130 of laser source 102 may include, but are not limited to, one or more nanosecond pulse lasers, one or more picosecond pulse lasers or one or more femtosecond pulse lasers.
  • the one or more ignition lasers 130 may include one or more modulated CW lasers (i.e., CW laser operating in moderating mode).
  • the one or more ignition lasers 130 may include one or more modulated diode lasers.
  • the illumination source 102 includes a delivery optical fiber 138 for delivering the optical output of the illumination source (e.g., sustaining illumination and/or ignition illumination) to one or more downstream optical elements.
  • the illumination source e.g., sustaining illumination and/or ignition illumination
  • the illumination source 102 includes a fiber coupler 140 .
  • the fiber coupler 140 may optically couple an output of the delivery fiber 138 to an optical input of the process fiber 104 .
  • the fiber coupler 140 may include any number and type of optical elements necessary to couple the output of the delivery fiber 138 to the input of the process fiber 104 .
  • the fiber coupler 140 may include lenses 142 and 144 arranged to couple the output of the delivery fiber 138 to the input of the process fiber 104 .
  • process fiber 104 may be a sacrificial optical fiber, allowing a user to attach a new fiber to the fiber coupler 140 when necessary.
  • the illumination source 102 may include a Q-switched nanosecond pulsed laser for igniting the plasma and one or more diode lasers for sustaining the plasma.
  • the output of the Q-switched nanosecond pulsed laser may be coupled in-line with the diode laser output inside the laser source 102 itself before being coupled to the delivery fiber 138 .
  • the diode lasers 120 a , 120 b e.g., diode stacks
  • any set of optical elements/components known in the art may be used to couple the output 133 of one or more ignition lasers 130 in-line with the output of the one or more sustaining lasers 120 a and/or 120 b to an input of the delivery optical fiber 138 .
  • a set of mirrors may be used to spatially separate the outputs of the lasers 120 a , 120 b and 130 and direct and/or focus the outputs of the lasers 120 a , 120 b and 130 to the input of the delivery fiber 138 .
  • mirrors 126 a , 126 b , 127 and 128 are used to direct laser illumination from the sustaining lasers 120 a , 120 b and the ignition laser 130 to the input of the delivery fiber 138 .
  • one or more optical elements may be used to temporarily block a portion of the sustaining laser illumination in order to allow for the ignition illumination 133 to be transmitted to the delivery fiber 138 and on to the plasma.
  • a flip mirror 127 (or otherwise actuatable mirror) may be positioned so as to reflect ignition illumination 133 to mirror 128 and on to the delivery fiber 138 when the plasma is being ignited, while blocking sustaining illumination 123 b from laser 120 b . Then, as shown in FIG.
  • the flip mirror 127 may be adjusted so that it blocks ignition illumination 133 from ignition source 130 , while allowing sustaining illumination 123 b to pass to mirror 128 and on to delivery fiber 138 .
  • the source 102 may include any number of lenses 122 a , 122 b , 132 , 136 to direct and focus light into the delivery fiber 138 .
  • the optical output of the one or more sustaining lasers 120 a , 120 b and the one or more ignition lasers 130 may be coupled to the delivery fiber 138 in any manner known in the art.
  • the delivery fiber 138 and/or the process fiber 104 may be multi-step/multi-core optical fibers, whereby different wavelengths of light are focused into different layers of the given optical fiber.
  • the use of a multi-step/multi-core optical fiber in the context of plasma generation is discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/274,956, filed on Sep. 23, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference in the entirety.
  • FIG. 1D illustrates an illumination source 102 equipped with one or more sustaining laser sources and one or more ignition light laser sources, in accordance with one or more alternative embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the ignition illumination 133 may be delivered to the process fiber 104 via fiber coupler 140 .
  • the fiber coupler 140 includes one or more dichroic mirrors 148 suitable for reflecting the ignition illumination 133 into the process fiber 104 , while allowing illumination from the sustaining lasers 120 a , 120 b to pass through, from the delivery fiber 138 , to the process fiber 104 .
  • the dichroic mirror 148 is removable.
  • the dichroic mirror 148 may be selectively placed into the fiber coupler during certain applications or during plasma ignition. For instance, once the plasma 111 is ignited the dichroic mirror 148 may be removed.
  • This configuration allows for an output of external ignition pulsed laser 130 , operating at a different wavelength than the sustaining lasers 120 a , 120 b , to be coupled to the process fiber 104 and the plasma 111 .
  • Such a configuration provides flexibility to scale up the pulsed laser power (pulse energy) by adding an external laser (e.g., fiber laser or conventional Nd-Yag laser).
  • FIG. 1D has been shown as the only ignition source in FIG. 1D , this configuration is not a limitation on the present disclosure. It is noted that the internal ignition source 130 of FIG. 1C and the external ignition source 130 of FIG. 1D may be used simultaneously to allow for the flexible scaling up of ignition power in applications requiring such power increases.
  • the optical configuration depicted in FIGS. 1B-1D is not limited to two sustaining lasers or a single ignition laser. Rather, the optical configuration depicted in FIGS. 1B-1D may be extended to any number of sustaining lasers and any number of ignition lasers.
  • the illumination source 102 may include one or more sustaining lasers (e.g., one, two, three sustaining lasers and so on).
  • the optical configuration of FIGS. 1B-1D may be modified by adding additional sustaining lasers.
  • mirror 128 may be a dichroic mirror allowing for illumination from additional sustaining lasers to pass through to lens 136 .
  • the illumination source 102 may include one or more ignition lasers (e.g., one, two, three ignition lasers and so on).
  • FIG. 1E illustrates an illumination source 102 equipped with one or more sustaining laser sources and one or more ignition light laser sources, in accordance with one or more alternative embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the illumination source 102 includes one or more dichroic mirrors and the lasers 120 a , 120 b and 130 emit laser illumination of different wavelengths (or wavelength ranges).
  • the first sustaining laser 120 a emits laser illumination of wavelength ⁇ 1
  • the second sustaining laser 120 b emits laser illumination of wavelength ⁇ 2
  • the ignition laser 130 emits laser illumination of ⁇ 3 (where ⁇ 1 , ⁇ 2 , and ⁇ 3 are different).
  • mirrors 150 , 152 and 154 may be dichroic mirrors.
  • mirror 150 may reflect light of a first wavelength ⁇ 1 (or set of wavelengths). Then, mirror 152 transmits light of the first wavelength ⁇ 1 , while reflecting light of the second wavelength ⁇ 2 In turn, mirror 154 transmits light of the first wavelength ⁇ 1 and second wavelength ⁇ 2 , while reflecting light of the third wavelength ⁇ 3 .
  • illumination from the one or more sustaining laser sources and one or more ignition light laser sources may be coupled to lens 136 , which then focuses and/or directs the ignition illumination and sustaining illumination into the delivery fiber 138 (either sequentially or simultaneously).
  • the fiber coupler 140 may couple the output of the delivery fiber 138 into the input of the process fiber 104 , which then delivers the output of the source 102 to plasma 111 (or gas) via various optical elements.
  • illumination from the sustaining sources 120 a , 120 b and the one or more ignition sources 130 may also be combined utilizing polarization-based optical elements.
  • a set of polarizing elements e.g., polarization beam splitters/polarization combiners
  • illumination from the one or more sustaining lasers may be polarized in one state, while the illumination from the one or more ignition lasers is polarized in an orthogonal state.
  • a set of polarization beam splitters/combiners may be implemented in a manner analogous to the dichroic mirrors of FIG. 1E .
  • FIGS. 1B-1E is not a limitation on the scope of the present disclosure and is provided merely for purposes of illustration. It is recognized that any number of equivalent optical configurations may be implemented in order to deliver sustaining illumination and ignition illumination to the plasma 111 either sequentially or simultaneously.
  • FIG. 1F illustrates system 100 for forming a light-sustained plasma (LSP), in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • the ignition illumination may be delivered to the plasma lamp 110 via an ignition laser 130 positioned to deliver ignition illumination from a direction different from the illumination beam 105 .
  • the ignition illumination 133 may be coupled into the plasma lamp 110 via a side port 150 in collection element 108 .
  • the ignition illumination 133 may be coupled into the plasma lamp 110 via any other direction. It is noted that an electrodeless configuration provides greater flexibility in coupling the ignition beam 133 into the plasma lamp 110 .
  • the ignition laser beam 133 may re-use all or part of the collector element 108 common to the one or more sustaining lasers 120 .
  • FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate a variety of bulb shapes for use in the plasma lamp 110 of system 100 , in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the plasma bulb 202 may have a cylindrical shape.
  • the cylindrically shaped plasma bulb 202 may be extended vertically so as to aid in dissipating convection within the plasma lamp.
  • the plasma bulb 202 may have a spherical shape. It is noted that the spherical shape of the plasma bulb 202 may reduce or eliminate the need for aberration compensation of the broadband radiation emitted by the plasma 111 .
  • the plasma bulb 202 may have a cardioid shape (i.e., heart shape).
  • the cardioid shaped plasma lamp may include a peak 210 on the internal surface of the glass bulb for directing convection within the volume of gas 109 of the plasma lamp 110 .
  • the plasma lamp 110 is refillable. As shown in FIGS. 2A-2C , the plasma lamp 110 may include a gas port assembly 205 operably coupled to a portion of the plasma bulb 202 of the plasma lamp 110 .
  • the plasma lamp 110 may include a gas port assembly 205 mechanically connected to the bottom portion of the bulb 202 and configured to facilitate the selective transfer of a gas from a gas source to the internal region of the bulb 202 of the plasma lamp 110 .
  • the gas port assembly 205 may include a fill port 207 , a delivery cap 203 , a receiving cap 206 , and a clamp 208 suitable for mechanically securing the delivery cap 203 to the receiving cap 206 .
  • gas from a gas source (not shown) may be transported (i.e., flowed) from the gas source into the internal volume of the glass bulb 202 via the fill port 207 of gas port assembly 205 .
  • the fill port 207 , the delivery cap 203 , the receiving cap 206 , and the clamp 208 may each be constructed from a selected metal (e.g., stainless steel) or non-metal material.
  • FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate various plasma bulb shapes implemented in the context of refillable bulbs (equipped with a gas port assembly), it is noted herein that each of the plasma bulb shapes described in the present invention may also be implemented in a non-refillable plasma lamp.
  • the transmitting portion of the plasma lamp 110 of system 100 may be formed from any material known in the art that is at least partially transparent to the broadband radiation 114 generated by plasma 111 and/or the illumination 105 from the illumination source 102 .
  • one or more transmitting portions (e.g., bulb, transmission element or window) of the plasma lamp 110 may be formed from any material known in the art that is at least partially transparent to EUV radiation, VUV radiation, DUV radiation, UV radiation, NUV radiation and/or visible light generated within the plasma lamp 110 .
  • one or more transmitting portions of the plasma lamp 110 may be formed from any material known in the art that is at least partially transparent to IR radiation, visible light and/or UV light from the illumination source 102 .
  • one or more transmitting portions of the plasma lamp 110 may be formed from any material known in the art transparent to both radiation from the illumination source 102 (e.g., IR source) and radiation (e.g., EUV, VUV, DUV, UV, NUV radiation and/or visible light) emitted by the plasma 111 .
  • the transmitting portion(s) of the plasma lamp 110 may be formed from a low-OH content fused silica glass material. In other embodiments, the transmitting portion(s) of the gas containment structure may be formed from high-OH content fused silica glass material.
  • the transmitting portion(s) of the plasma lamp 110 may include, but is not limited to, SUPRASIL 1, SUPRASIL 2, SUPRASIL 300, SUPRASIL 310, HERALUX PLUS, HERALUX-VUV, and the like. In other embodiments, the transmitting portion(s) of the plasma lamp 110 may include, but is not limited to, calcium fluoride, magnesium fluoride, lithium fluoride, crystalline quartz and sapphire.
  • the plasma lamp 110 may contain any selected gas (e.g., argon, xenon, mercury or the like) known in the art suitable for generating plasma upon absorption of pump illumination.
  • the focusing of illumination 105 from the illumination source 102 into the volume of gas 109 causes energy to be absorbed by the gas or plasma (e.g., through one or more selected absorption lines) within the plasma lamp 110 .
  • the system 100 may be utilized to initiate and/or sustain plasma 111 in a variety of gas environments.
  • the gas used to initiate and/or sustain plasma 111 may include an inert gas (e.g., noble gas or non-noble gas) or a non-inert gas (e.g., mercury).
  • the gas used to initiate and/or sustain plasma 111 may include a mixture of gases (e.g., mixture of inert gases, mixture of inert gas with non-inert gas or a mixture of non-inert gases).
  • gases suitable for implementation in system 100 of the present disclosure may include, but are not limited, to Xe, Ar, Ne, Kr, He, N 2 , H 2 O, O 2 , H 2 , D 2 , F 2 , CH 4 , one or more metal halides, a halogen, Hg, Cd, Zn, Sn, Ga, Fe, Li, Na, Ar:Xe, ArHg, KrHg, XeHg, and any mixture thereof.
  • the present disclosure should be interpreted to extend to any light pumped plasma generating system and should further be interpreted to extend to any type of gas suitable for sustaining plasma within a gas containment structure.
  • the broadband output 114 of the plasma lamp 110 may be coupled to the illumination optics of an optical characterization tool, such as, but not limited to, an inspection tool and/or metrology tool.
  • system 100 may include various additional optical elements.
  • the set of additional optics may include additional collection optics configured to collect broadband radiation 114 emanating from the plasma 111 .
  • the system 100 may include a cold mirror 112 arranged to direct illumination from the collector element 108 to downstream optics, such as, but not limited to, a homogenizer.
  • the additional set of optics may include one or more additional lenses (e.g., lens) placed along either the illumination pathway or the collection pathway of system 100 .
  • the one or more lenses may be utilized to focus illumination from the illumination source 102 into the volume of gas 109 .
  • the one or more additional lenses may be utilized to focus broadband radiation 114 emanating from the plasma 111 onto a selected target (not shown).
  • the additional set of optics may include a turning mirror 106 .
  • the turning mirror 106 may be arranged to receive illumination 105 from the illumination source 102 and direct the illumination to the volume of gas 109 contained within the plasma lamp 110 via collection element 108 .
  • the collection element 108 is arranged to receive illumination from mirror 106 and focus the illumination to the focal point of the collection element 108 (e.g., ellipsoid-shaped collection element), where the plasma lamp 110 is located.
  • the additional set of optics may include one or more filters (not shown) placed along either the illumination pathway or the collection pathway in order to filter illumination prior to light entering the plasma lamp 110 or to filter illumination following emission of the light from the plasma 111 .
  • filters not shown
  • any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components.
  • any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “connected”, or “coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “couplable”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality.
  • Specific examples of couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

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DE112016004526.3T DE112016004526T5 (de) 2015-10-04 2016-09-30 System und Verfahren zum elektrodenlosen Zünden von Plasma in einer lasergestützten Plasmalichtquelle
PCT/US2016/054733 WO2017062274A1 (en) 2015-10-04 2016-09-30 System and method for electrodeless plasma ignition in laser-sustained plasma light source
JP2018517290A JP7023223B2 (ja) 2015-10-04 2016-09-30 レーザ維持プラズマ光源における無電極プラズマ点火のための照明源およびプラズマ光源
CN201680057767.5A CN108140538B (zh) 2015-10-04 2016-09-30 用于无电极等离子体点燃的照明源及等离子体宽带源
TW105132022A TWI703611B (zh) 2015-10-04 2016-10-04 用於無電極電漿點火之照明源及電漿寬頻源
JP2022018253A JP2022060309A (ja) 2015-10-04 2022-02-08 照明源及びプラズマ光源

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US20180375278A1 (en) * 2016-02-10 2018-12-27 Trumpf Lasersystems For Semiconductor Manufacturing Gmbh Extreme ultraviolet radiation producing systems with driver laser systems having optical isolators
US10644473B2 (en) * 2016-02-10 2020-05-05 Trumpf Lasersystems For Semiconductor Manufacturing Gmbh Exteme ultraviolet radiation producing systems with driver laser systems having optical isolators
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